Iain Martin is a political commentator, and a former editor of The Scotsman and former deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph. He is the author of Making It Happen: Fred Goodwin, RBS and the men who blew up the British economy, published by Simon & Schuster.. As well as this blog, he writes a column for The Sunday Telegraph. You can read more about Iain by visiting his website

Send for Teddy Roosevelt

In 1904 the American journalist Ida Tarbell published The History of the Standard Oil Company. The material had first been published as part of a series in McLure's Magazine. Her series, and then the book, caused a sensation and triggered an epic political struggle that led to the break-up of the oil giant. Tarbell had exposed the corruption, chicanery and monopolistic tendencies of Standard Oil, which was owned by John Rockefeller, America's richest man.

Tarbell was one of the leading "muckrakers" of the Progressive era, meaning those journalists who dedicated themselves to confronting powerful interests and chronicling the lamentable conditions in which millions of Americans lived and worked. Their writing helped create the climate in which a great American president, Theodore Roosevelt, could continue, to such dramatic effect, the "trust-busting" that had begun under his predecessor.

Trust-busting meant harrying and seeking to punish firms which were operating monopolies or cartels. In 1911, having been found in breach of the anti-monopoly Sherman Act, Standard Oil was ordered to break itself into pieces.

It has always surprised me that Theodore Roosevelt (his biographer says he hated the nickname Teddy) has been so little mentioned in the aftermath of the financial crisis, when compared to his namesake FDR. Some of the problems Theodore attempted to confront, in such an endearing style, are with us again, albeit in a different form.

Once again oil companies are accused of conspiring against the customer. There are allegations that several large firms rigged petrol prices. The companies involved completely deny the allegations of collusion and price-fixing. But already politicians are circling, wondering what to do.

An updated variation on the Roosevelt agenda could be very popular in the current climate and it might restore the battered reputation of capitalism and markets, which we need to function properly in order that they propel us out of the large hole in which we find ourselves.

Typically, Ed Miliband was onto one part of this problem early on, making speeches in which he identified the threat from large vested interests. But equally typically he seems trapped by his statist instincts. The answer to a monopolistic carve-up or a cartel is more competition, not less. Yet this is territory on which Miliband, as a socialist, is terribly uncomfortable. He has diagnosed the problem, but does not like the cure.

It stretches well beyond the question of energy and utility companies. The consolidation and expansion of financial services has been so marked that it appears sometimes as though the economy is run for the benefit of the banks, rather than us, the customers of the banks.

And in the field of what is termed the "tech" industry there is trouble ahead. Of course the firms that dominate it began as startups, but in time, as Adam Smith understood, they will are growing ever bigger and tending towards market dominance and then monopoly. Soon, if not already, they will have too much influence and power over us.

In light of that it has been astonishing to watch contemporary politicians – such as the Prime Minister and the Chancellor – fawn over Google. The red-carpet is rolled out for its executives as though it is a foreign state they are desperate to please. But Google is not some hippy commune, or great philanthropic enterprise. It is just a company, or rather a giant company with massive profits, lawyers, accountants and its own interests to serve. This is fine, up to a point. While we need profitable companies, their existence should never blind us to the truths understood by Adam Smith. Only by enforcing competition and maintaining vigilance against vested interests, will we get companies that serve us rather than the other way round.

Petrol prices are only the half of it. Eventually future governments in the US, here and the EU will have to be brave enough to grapple with the tech companies.